Mr. Waxler's Class

Hi,

Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving weekend!

This week in social studies we will wrap our unit on the Revolutionary War.  On Monday, we will focus on Valley Forge, the Battle of Saratoga, and the Treaty of Alliance.

On Tuesday, students will complete their “major battles” map.

On Wednesday I will give students their 5-week grade for social studies (the grade they will receive on their Progress Report).  Students will then revisit their 2nd quarter goal and revise (if necessary) their plan to achieve their 2nd quarter goal.

Thursday will be spent on the treaty that ended the war (Treaty of Paris: 1783) as well as the role that African-Americans played in the Revolutionary War. 

On Friday, students will work in class to create a “comic strip timeline” using 8 different events from the American Revolution.

Homework

Monday (11/28)
Pretend you are a soldier in the Continental Army encamped at Valley Forge.  Write a letter back home telling about your experiences at Valley Forge. (Click here for Valley Forge reading and assignment)

Tuesday (11/29)
* Complete Geography worksheet: The Siege of Yorktown
* Complete worksheet reading and questions: The End of the War
(Click here for both assignments)

Wednesday (11/30)
No Homework

Thursday (12/1)
Complete reading and questions: African Americans and the American Revolution

Friday (12/2)
Complete Timeline

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Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Last week students took their test on the causes of the American Revolution and this week we will get into the war itself.

On Monday, students will compare the strengths and weaknesses of the British and the Colonists at the beginning of the war.  The rest of the week, students will examine various battles, major events, and people of the Revolutionary War.  Students will work on a “Major Battles” map over the course of next couple of weeks.  As we complete the map we will stop to view various video clips, analyze important primary source documents, and evaluate the decisions that were made during the war from both the American and British perspective. Please make sure you child brings colored pencils to class everyday for the next couple of weeks.

**History Fair Update:
By the end of the week all students taking Advanced American History should have decided on the type of project presentation (historical paper, web site, exhibit board, documentary or performance).

Homework

Monday (11/14)
Write a battle strategy for either British or Colonists based on three areas of comparison from today’s lesson.

Tuesday (11/15)
No Homework

Wednesday (11/16)
Answer questions on handout based on the Declaration of Independence.

Thursday (11/17)
No Homework

Friday (11/18)
No Homework

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This week we will wrap our unit on the Causes of the American Revolution.  On Monday, we will focus on the final even that leads to the American Revolution…the fighting at Lexington & Concord.

On Tuesday, we will be analyzing the primary source document Common Sense written by Thomas Paine at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.  This important document convinced many Loyalists to become Patriots and fight for independence. Wednesday we will review for Thursday’s test on the Causes of the American Revolution.  Thursday’s test will include an essay in which the students will have to make an argument whether or not they think the colonists were justified in starting a revolution.  Students will have to support their argument with specific events that caused the Revolution.

**History Fair Update: I pushed back the due date on the thesis statement because I didn’t have time to thoroughly explain it in class.  I am hoping to have time on Monday to work on it with the students. The thesis statement will now be due next Monday, November 14th. Also, due to the test on Thursday plus the shortened schedule for the Veteran’s Day assembly on Thursday, the rough draft of the bibliography will be pushed back to Monday November 14th as well.

Homework

Monday (11/7)
Read textbook pages 142-144 (The First Battles) and answer the following questions:
1. Why were British troops marching to Concord?
2. Who warned the colonists?
3. Where were the first shots fired? Who shot first?
4. How many British were killed or wounded on their way back to Boston?

Tuesday (11/8)
Complete questions based on Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense.

Wednesday (11/9)
* Study for test (Review Sheet)
* Ticket-to-the-Test: This is an optional homework assignment that I give the night before EVERY test. Students are to create their own test questions AND answers (minimum of 10) based on the content of the unit. Those students who create the Ticket-to-the-Test can hand it in BEFORE the test and receive 3 Bonus points on the test.

Thursday (11/10)
**Test Today
**Next two items on History Fair Checklist (Thesis Statement and Rough Draft of Bibliography) due on Monday, November 14th

Friday (11/11)
Veterans’ Day ~ No School

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Hi,

Last week we wrapped up Colonial Life with a test on Thursday. This week we will move into the causes of the American Revolution and how the colonists reacted to each of those causes.

Homework

Monday 10/31
No Homework ~ Happy Halloween

Tuesday 11/1
Complete Cornell Notes based on reading: Causes of the Revolutionary War

Wednesday 11/2
Complete Colonial Unrest-O-Meter based on today’s lesson

Thursday 11/3
Write newspaper editorial about the Boston Massacre from either a Loyalist perspective or a Patriot perspective
**History Fair: Next checklist item (Thesis Statement) due Friday**

Friday 11/4
No Homework

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Hi,

Last week students finished working on their colonial brochure. Of the ones I have printed out so far, I have to say I am quite pleased with the results.

The purpose of the brochure project was for the students to become an expert on 1 of the 13 colonies (founder, economy, geography, government, and people).  However, students will also be responsible for knowing information about the other colonies as well. Therefore, on Tuesday we will do an activity in which students move from station to station examining the student-made brochures from the various colonies.

On Wednesday we will review for Thursday’s test on Colonial Life. On Friday, we will start to move into the causes of the American Revolution.  We will start with the French & Indian War as it is the end of that war that really begins the process of dividing the King and his American Colonies.

Homework

Monday (10/24)
Record Day ~ No School for Students

Tuesday (10/25)
No homework today, however, since the review for the test will take place on a short Wednesday I will hand out the review sheet on Tuesday so students can better prepare for the test. (Review Sheet)

Wednesday (10/26)
Ticket-to-the-Test: This is an optional homework assignment that I give the night before EVERY test. Students are to create their own test questions AND answers (minimum of 10) based on the content of the unit. Those students who create the Ticket-to-the-Test can hand it in BEFORE the test and receive 3 Bonus points on the test

Thursday (10/27)

• Test Today
• No Homework

Friday (10/28)
No Homework

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I have decided to push back the due date for the next item on the History Fair Checklist. According to the checklist the 10 research questions are due by this Friday, October 21st. However, I have decided to push it back until Tuesday, October 25th. This will give students the long weekend to work on their questions. Also, those students who complete their brochure project early (due by the end of class this Friday) can then have some class time to work on History Fair.

**Note: The answers to their research questions are not due until next Friday. However, there will not be time in class next week to work on History Fair.

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Last week the students started their Colonial Brochure Project.

As I stated last week, the students will be working in-class to create a computer generated brochure on one of the 13 colonies.

Last Friday, most students finished their rough draft on paper and then began to collect pictures on the computer. On Monday, students will finish collecting pictures and then start working on their brochure using one of the many templates provided in the Pages software of iWork. I decided to use Pages over Microsoft Word as it seems to be much more user-friendly. However, if students feel more comfortable with Microsoft they are welcome to use it, especially if they feel they need to work on the project at home and don’t have iWork. By Friday, students should be done with their brochure.

Once the project is complete, the students will use each others brochures to teach each other about the different colonies.

Homework this week will depend on how individual students are proceeding with their project.  For the most part there will not be any homework, unless students start to fall behind. However, since the project is being done on the computer it may be difficult for some students to work on it at home. Students are always welcome to come to my class before school starts. I am at school every day by 8:30.

**History Fair Update**
According the History Fair Checklist each student should have chosen a topic by last Friday. Since there was no school on Friday I will be checking to see that parents have initialed that item on the checklist on Monday.

By Friday, October 21st, the next item on the checklist is due. Students should have written 10 research questions on their topic (who, what, where, when, how, why etc.). These will be guiding questions for their research notes which will be checked the following Friday, October 28th.

Please make sure to keep up with the History Fair Checklist.

Have a great week!

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Hello,

This week we will continue our unit on Colonial Life.

On Monday, students will use the notes they have been taking from their “walking tour of the colonies” to write a journal entry as if they just spent a year in Colonial America.

On Tuesday, I have set some time aside to allow students to work on the computers to research History Fair topics.  By Friday, all students must have selected a topic for the History Fair.

On Wednesday, students will begin their first major project of the year…the Colonial Brochure Project.

For this project, the students will be working in-class to create a computer generated brochure on one of the 13 colonies.

Wednesday will be spent explaining the project, learning about their particular colony, and working on a rough draft.  Once the rough draft is complete, the rest of the project will be done using the computers.  By the end of next week students will have completed their computer-generated brochure for their particular colony.

Once the project is complete, students will use their classmate’s brochures to learn about all 13 colonies.

Homework

Monday 10/10
Complete Colonial Journal

Tuesday 10/11
No Homework

Wednesday 10/12
Homework will depend on how individual students are proceeding with their project.

Thursday 10/13
Next item on History Fair checklist must be initialed by Monday (Item #4 – Topic Selection)

Friday 10/14
No School for students

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This week we will continue with our unit: Colonial Life.

On Monday we will take a look at how democracy worked within the colonies and on Tuesday we will focus on slavery in the colonies with students learning about the triangle trade and the horrors of the middle passage.  The rest of the week, students will take a “walking tour of the colonies” where they examine pictures and descriptions of various aspects of colonial life.

Next week, students will use their notes from their “walking tour” to write a journal entry as if they just spent a year in Colonial America. This will help lay the foundation for our Colonial Brochure project which we will begin next week as well.  The Colonial Brochure project is an in-class project in which each student will create a computer-generated brochure for one of the 13 colonies.

**History Fair Update:
Please continue to keep up with the History Fair Checklist. By Friday, the first 3 items on the checklist should be completed and initialed by both students and parents.

Homework

Monday 10/3
Complete colonial advertisement

Tuesday 10/4    
Complete primary source reading: Gustavus Vassa Crosses the Atlantic and answer questions 1-8

Wednesday 10/5
No Homework

Thursday 10/6
Next 2 items on History Fair Checklist must be initialed by both student and parent.

Friday 10/7
No Homework

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